1.   Find a private, calm room and relax. Distractions such as noises could disturb/irritate you and cause you to lose focus on imaging.

2.   Take a few slow breathes and deep breathes to concentrate your attention and relax yourself. This action also helps to relax tense muscles in your whole body. (chest, lungs, facial )

3.   Close your eyes. Internal images can be more vivid if one’s eyes are closed and cause one to focus only on their own thoughts/visuals. 

4.   Next  you can imagine a beautiful location. Most people tend to visualize a beach, forest,  a close relative's house, mountain or sitting in their favorite room.

5.   Imagine yourself feeling calm and comfortable: envision yourself smiling, laughing, feeling content and having a wonderful time. 

6.   Focus on different sensory factors found in your imaginary environment so that your vision can be more vivid. Just like in a book, by invoking your taste, touch, smell and hearing, a person can experience a more intense image.  Examples:

a)      If you’re imagining a forest, spend time imagining the scent of grass and wood, the chirping of birds and mud between your toes

b)      If you’re imagining a beach, try to conjure sunshine on your skin, the scent of sea-salt and the sound of waves

c)      If you’re in your favorite room, concentrate on the warmth of your blanket, the softness of your bed and the smell of your preferred hot drink( tea/coffee/hot chocolate) 

7.   Stay within this image, exploring its sensory qualities for around five-ten minutes or until you feel completely relaxed. 

8.   When you reach this relaxed state, reassure yourself that you can return here whenever you desire or need to de-stress. 

9.   Open your eyes again and rejoin your reality.

SIT involves reassuring the patient that stressors challenges and opportunities for potential growth rather than obstacles and burdens. This treatment consists of three overlapping methods:

1. Cognitive therapy, 

2. Behavioral therapy 

3. Cognitive behavioral therapy. 

Using these three styles of therapy, SIT gives the patient various coping strategies so that they could identify the stressors in their lives and negative, distressing thoughts/cognitions. The individual’s perception on stressful situations is the key factor of SIT. SIT also proposes that when the perceived resources do not meet the perceived demands, stress occurs.  

2.Behavioral therapy- This therapy focuses on the learning process and how to respond to react to certain situations. It aims to produce a new set of desirable and less distressing reactions, actions and behavior to a seemingly stressful situation. 

3.Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy- A combination of cognitive and behavioral therapy  

 

Bridge conducted an independent-measures designed experiment investigating the effect relaxation and imagery exposure had on a group of women diagnosed with breast cancer and whether their stress levels would be lowered, prolonging their lives. The sample consisted of 139 outpatients, undergoing 6 weeks of trial radiotherapy at the Middlesex Hospital London and under the age of 70. The women completed the Leeds General Scales Measures which measure one’s depression and anxiety. They also completed a mood scale which assessed their mood states using subscales for vigor, tension fatigue and so on. The women were allocated to 3 conditions:  relaxation, relaxation plus imagery and a control condition. The results on the mood profiles after therapy show that those who underwent relaxation and imagery were more effective than relaxation itself.  

 

Skills Acquisition- New skills and coping mechanisms should be formed and practiced. These strategies should be done according to the patient’s cognitive abilities and involve regulation techniques, relaxation, and problem-solving tasks. This will increase the confidence of the patient and cause them to realize they can control the stress in their lives. 

 

Application- Apply the strategies learnt during the acquisition stage to real life and prevent relapse.